Reimagining the workplace and worker of the future – Implications for safe behaviour in a 4th Industrial World

Mr Jacob de Coning

Jacob is a registered Industrial/ Organisational Psychologist with the Health professions council SA. His primary focus is on partnering with clients to shift toward a safety mindset specifically in the industrial sectors across Africa. In addition to his professional qualification, Jacob has also completed leadership development training through the DaVinci institute and Harvard business school.

Jacob serves as a Branch chair- Vaal triangle region and on the board of SIOPSA.

Specific focus will be the IOP lens on disruptive technologies and the 4th industrial revolution.

The 4th Industrial revolution is coming and many experts agree that it will have broad-ranging impacts far exceeding those of the previous phases of industrialisation. Coined by the World Economic Forum the 4th industrial revolution refers to the wave of disruption that seems set to occur due to the rise in various technologies long held to be the realm of science fiction.

Potentially this culmination of technologies could improve human health, productivity and living conditions. However, as we increasingly see “winner take all” scenarios where a single mega-corporation completely dominates an industry – think Apple, Google and Amazon, we must acknowledge that this revolution could further increase global levels of inequality.

Enter South Africa and our nuanced dilemma. How can we leverage the most advanced economy in Africa to benefit from the 4th Industrial revolution while also ensuring that it is not just select groups who benefit? Adding to our dilemma, how can we continue to build on SA’s abundant resources safely and Inclusively. With industry fatalities on the rise for the first time in decades and suspected to align to unsafe behavior, building our future is an imperative, not a utopian ideal.